Good morning, it is ... a blog about my family: Maren, Preston, Hansen, Lillian and myself. Enjoy! And I will see you tomorrow.

Wednesday, June 03, 2015

Milestones, Quilts, and Youtube. No Blinking...

Good evening, it is Wednesday.

This was a day of days for sure. A day of firsts, and a day of lasts. Milestones flying past at breakneck speeds, luckily there is coffee! And you may need some coffee too because this blog post should probably be three blog posts, or maybe four. But it will just be one as we are taking all this in at the same time in real life too.

Sunday was one of my favorite days of the church year. No, it wasn't a holiday or anything like that. It was Senior Sunday. Not senior citizens (there are plenty of those at church) but high school senior day. This is the day that graduating high school seniors are presented with personalized quilts made by the quilters of the church. They wrap the kids up in their quilts and send them on their way, so to say. Very nice. And after years of really enjoying this day, Preston is now on the receiving end of a quilt. This class of 2015 has been an amazing class of kids for sure, and it was clear they were exceptional way back when they were all like 4th graders.

This label is inside each quilt. The kids got to personalize theirs, and Preston's turned out amazing. It has a music theme.

Speaking of music, tonight we were at the second year end music concert of the week. Monday was just the jazz band. Here is Preston soloing with his saxophone.

Most inspirational as voted by his peers! Way to go Preston. I love that his band teacher put a frolf net on the certificate. Yes, this teacher knows his kids, and he will be missed as he is retiring at the end of this year.

Before today's band concert, look what came in the mail! Lillie's trombone. Lillie saved up a bunch of money and got me to kick in half. Boom, she now owns a trombone. Yes, the plan is to change from clarinet to trombone next year in band.

Even Preston is impressed by Lillie's purchase.

How about a little duet? Preston on the saxophone, Lillie on the tuba. Be glad this wan't on video. But hang on for some good videos at the end of this blog post. I think it amazing that Lillie's trombone arrived on the same day as Preston's last band concert. Well, maybe not his last concert, who knows where music will take him, but his last high school band concert.

Why twin lawnmowers? The one on the right is John's. John and Carol gave the new owner the keys to their house today, packed up the last of the things in the truck, and drove straight out here for Preston's last band concert. After the band concert they drove straight to Mel's house to stay until their new house is ready to move in. Sunday they can move some of these things to their new house (like the lawnmower on the right), but there are a few upgrades going on which will keep them from moving in right away. How's that for a day of days?

Melanie was helping move the last few things and really has been a huge help to John and Carol, visiting often to help with this move. Mel texted this picture of one the way backs in one of the closets of the old house. Not only has the house made a mark on the people, the people seem to have left a few marks on the house. Who is this Maren person who's name is etched into the walls? I know her!

At this evening's band concert all the seniors were presented with a rose. Here is Preston getting his rose.

Preston and his buddy Drew presented Mr. Stowell (on behalf of the band) with a couple of thank yous and good luck gifts. Preston presented Mr. Stowell a "ball golf club". I'm sure Mr. Stowell will be sure to find some time to golf during his retirement. Drew presented a gold plated mouthpiece for his [Mr. Stowell's] Trumpet. Nice gifts for sure.

Here is a pano of the final song of the night. At the year end concert it is customary to have all the bands come together and play the marching songs that they played while in Victoria Canada for Victoria Days. This year it was Star Wars. The regular band selections were amazing, this was loud and fun! I videoed part of one of the songs and will post it next.

I have one more fun and goofy video to post as I close this post. It is a goofy spoof that Preston and a few friends made for math class. Maz is a short for Mrs. Mazukelli. Enjoy!

See you tomorrow.

P.S. I'm adding an extra photo to this blog post. It was taken by Preston's friend Carson Stowell after the last song of Mr. Stowell's last band concert. There was like a two minute standing ovation for Mr. Stowell. You can see Preston on the right. You can't see me as I'm in the audience directly behind Mr. Stowell's head, but Maren, John, and Carol are just to the left of him. It was a cool night, and this is a very cool behind the scenes photo if I've ever see one: